


Words and Petals

by funnylookinfella



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Sacrifice Chloe Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-03-31
Packaged: 2018-05-30 09:21:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6417874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funnylookinfella/pseuds/funnylookinfella
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate and Max visit Chloe's grave. A short little drabble with mild Marshfield implications but mostly gen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Words and Petals

“Are you sure about this, Max?” Kate asked, stopping the car outside of Arcadia Bay Cemetery. “I don’t want to intrude on what you and Chloe had. I know… I know it was special.” Her fingers curled tighter around the steering wheel of her car. 

Max shook her head, already looking tired, and they hadn’t even gotten out yet. “I’m sure. I want you to come with me. I think Chloe would have liked you, anyway.”

Kate forced a smile, her hands leaving the steering wheel to fiddle with the gold cross hanging just under her shirt collar. “From what I’ve heard, I don’t think that’s quite true. But thank you for saying it.” 

“No… she was grumpy, and maybe she wouldn’t have approved of your…” Max gave a small hand gesture. “…Piety. But she didn’t hate people for no reason.” 

Kate pressed her lips together, wanting so badly to feel wanted in this moment, like she wasn’t a third wheel, barging in on this special moment between Max and Chloe. “Okay. You ready?” 

Nodding, Max got out of the car, Kate following. They walked down the cemetery path, their hands drifting close as they headed to the Prices’ plot, where Chloe was buried next to William. At least she got to see her father again, Kate thought with a small smile. In Heaven. 

The land over Chloe’s grave still looked a bit disturbed, as it hadn’t had time to settle, healing and scabbing over with grass, like a scrape a child would get on the playground. Kate hugged herself awkwardly as Max knelt down and put the tulips she’d been carrying, half of them over Chloe’s grave, the other over William’s. 

Kate felt her hand return to her cross, knowing she must have been getting fingerprints over the smooth, shining gold. At times, she didn’t understand why God let things like this happen. She didn’t know why He would let someone like Nathan Prescott live on the world He created and do such horrible things. But, she reminded herself, if there were no bad people, how would they know who was good?

She came over to stand by where Max was kneeling down, and got down on her knees in the grass, feeling it prickle through her tights. “Can… can I talk to her?” 

Max looked over at her in surprise. “Oh. Yeah. Sure.” 

Kate smiled, reaching down and brushing her fingers against the petals of the red and yellow tulips Max had brought. “Hi, Chloe,” she said softly. “I never really knew you. But I know Max. And if Max loved you, you must have been wonderful. I promise I’m doing my best to make her happy. I hope that’s okay with you.” Her smile faded a little, as she felt a wave of sadness settle down over her. “I… I don’t know if you believed in Heaven or not, Chloe. But I believe that you and your dad are both there. I know Max misses you a lot. I’ve heard so many stories about how amazing you were, and I hope the stories never stop coming.” Her hand rose from the tulip petals, settling down on her knee, over her pencil skirt. She looked over at Max. “Was that okay?” 

Max was brushing tears away with her sweater sleeves, pulling them down over her fists. “Yeah. That was nice. Thank you, Kate. I didn’t really know what to say. But that was good.” 

Kate pressed her hand down against the ground and pushed herself back to her feet, brushing grass off the back of her skirt and tights. “I’m going to go back and wait in the car, okay? Will you be alright?” 

“Yeah.” Max nodded. “I’ll be there soon.” 

Kate waited, the car window open to let the breeze in. The weather was beautiful today, as if God knew they would need the cheering up. Eventually, she saw Max come out from between the cemetery gates, and she started up the car again. Max climbed back in, sitting quietly as Kate turned the radio on. The classical music station, as usual, turned down so they could talk over it if they wanted to. 

“I don’t know if this will help, since I know it’s my faith, not yours,” Kate said slowly. “But there’s a verse… Corinthians 15:42. It says, ‘The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable’. Chloe is never going to really die as long as you remember her, and her family remembers her. As long as her memory exists here on earth, she’s here, Max. Just remember that.” 

Max turned her head from where she’d been looking out the window, and finally raised her gaze to look at Kate. “That’s… really nice, actually. Thank you, Kate. It doesn’t really matter if I believe in it or not. You do, and you meant what you said. That’s all that counts.” 

Kate reached over and gave Max’s hand a squeeze, before starting the car and taking them home.


End file.
